


Fascination

by st_mick



Series: He is the Sun... [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe (Literally) & Canon Divergence, Crossover, Madame Kovarian gets a much deserved smack, Multi, OT3, Rip Hunter is downright hostile, Rory gets new innards, Rory gets some answers, Sara Lance does NOT have a crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 18:13:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15345645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_mick/pseuds/st_mick
Summary: Time blinks, and the TARDIS lands on the Waverider.  Rip behaves badly, but soon realizes the Doctor can be a valuable ally to him.  The temporal anomaly they are pursuing is traced to Rome in 100 A.D., and Rory receives a surprise in the all-too-familiar surroundings.  Temporal anomalies give way to genetic ones, and a sobering choice must be made.  Gideon replaces damaged tissue using a new template, and Rory is revived, a new man (though not quite as human as he used to be).





	1. Unexpected Visitors

**Author's Note:**

> Might help to read "When the Love is Worth the Pain", first.

It was a quiet afternoon aboard the Waverider.  Well, it was quiet in the cargo hold, at any rate.  Sara was practicing with a katana she had found in Medieval Japan.  Ray was working on his Atom suit.  Mick and Len were cleaning their heat and cold guns. 

A companionable silence had fallen over the group, each member relieved to be away from Rip’s black mood and angry mutterings.  He and Gideon had been trying to isolate a strange temporal anomaly all day, with little success.  His hostility had grown as each hour passed with no progress on finding what or where or when was going on. 

Jax had retreated to the engine room, and Dr. Stein was in the med bay, simply pottering around.  The others had eventually converged on the large hold where they could each have space to themselves, together.

“What is that?” Sara asked as the air began moving through the hold and a strange, wheezing noise grew louder and louder.  In one corner of the room, a blue box proved to be the source of the sound as it hesitantly materialized in the previously empty corner.

Len and Mick grabbed their guns and Ray put on one of the gloves of his Atom suit.  Sara put down the katana and grabbed her batons as an awkward looking man wearing tweed and a bowtie climbed out of the box and began making a circuit around it.

“…it was definitely a temporal shift.  The TARDIS is very good at navigating those, so we need to determine what caused the time rotor to stall.”  The man was speaking very fast and paying no heed to his surroundings, stroking the outside of the box and almost cooing at it.  “What is it, Old Girl?  Something you ate again?”

“Doctor,” a tall redheaded woman with a Scottish accent stepped out of the box and, looking around, took in her surroundings.  She seemed utterly unconcerned that there were five weapons trained on her, at the moment.  “Hello,” she sang out before addressing the man again.  Keeping her eyes on them, she asked over her shoulder, “Doctor, do you even know where we are?”

From the door of the box, a third person looked out, but his face was in shadow.  He retreated for a moment, but then stepped out.  His back was to the crew of the Waverider as he pulled the door to the box shut.  He had a scabbard in his hand.  He pulled the sword free and rested the scabbard against the box.  He gave the box what looked to be a reassuring pat before straightening.

“Have you not been listening?”  Bow-tie made his way back around the box.  “There was a _thing_.  And the TARDIS had to land, but now there’s another thing, and…”  Finally, he noticed the crew.  He smiled broadly.  “Hello!  I’m the Doctor.”

“Doctor, they have guns.  Please stay closer to the TARDIS,” the man with the sword said as he stepped between his friends and the three crewmembers who were about to attack. 

Then he turned.

Mick cursed and Leonard almost backed up a step.

“Rip, get down here.  Now!” Sara bellowed as she shifted weight on her feet, ready to attack.

The stranger with Rip’s face scanned the room.  He seemed to immediately dismiss Ray, Mick and Len and stepped directly between his friends and Sara.  He placed himself at a deliberately neutral distance from her and settled into a stance that was too relaxed.  It told her that he was a seasoned fighter.  And that he had decided that she was the greatest threat, at the moment.

“Doctor, why does the air… tingle?” he asked over his shoulder, his eyes never stopping as they roved around the room.

“Tingle?”  The man called the Doctor pulled out a metal tube with a green light and waved it around before looking at it.  His eyes widened.  “Oh,” he said.

A long-suffering expression flitted across the face of the man with the sword.  He looked at Sara.  “That usually means we’re somewhere we shouldn’t be.”  He shrugged.  “Sorry.”

Sara realized the man’s posture was entirely defensive.  He would make no move to attack, as long as he or his friends were not attacked.  “Who are you?” she asked.  Clearly, he wasn’t Rip.  And though she did not get the feeling that this odd group was in any way a threat, their sudden appearance was unsettling.

“I’m the Doctor,” Bow-tie said again.  “Really, is no one listening today?  These are the Ponds.”

“I’m Amy,” the redhead gave a bit of a wave.  “That’s my husband, Rory.”  She gave a cheeky grin.  “We come in peace!”

“And again I ask: when has that _ever_ worked?” Rory asked.  Clearly he was the designated grownup of the group.  He was still on his guard.  Perhaps because Mick and Len still had their guns trained on him. 

“Yes, sorry for just dropping in.  There was a shimmer, and we were looking at the shimmer, and then time sort of… blinked.  I’m not sure, but we may have poked time in the eye.”

Rory shook his head and tried not to smile.  Oh.  Sara realized that he was enjoying this, now that it seemed probable that his friends were safe.

“Gideon says there was a breach, but not a breach,” Rip came through the cargo hold door, a blaster in his hand.  “What the hell is…” he trailed off.

The Doctor happened to look toward the door a split-second before Rory did.  He spun around and grabbed Rory’s sword-wrist, holding it down by his side as he wrapped the other arm around Rory’s torso.  “Rory, no!”

“Doctor, it’s another Auton!” Rory shouted, his relaxed demeanor gone as he struggled against his friend, who seemed to be uncommonly strong.  Rory’s face turned red, and veins were popping from his temples and his neck as he strained with all his strength.  “Kill it!  Kill it before it hurts Amy again!” 

He was in a rage.  The man called the Doctor picked him up and moved towards the box.  “Help me, Old Girl,” he gritted as he pushed the man against the box.  “Rory, he is not an Auton.  Listen!” he shoved Rory against the box.  His voice lowered.  “Rory, drop the sword.”

Sara would have been willing to bet that the man would never drop that sword while his heart still beat and he thought his wife was in danger, but the Doctor seemed to do something, and the box seemed to give a little shudder, and in the next moment, the sword clattered to the floor.  Amy moved to pick it up, her eyes wide.  She glanced at her two friends before turning back to Rip, staring.

Rip raised his gun and pointed it at her.  This enraged Rory, who began fighting again.  “You people and your guns!” the Doctor grumbled.  “Rory, I am not going to let you go, and if you keep struggling, you’re going to break a rib.  Amy is fine.  Remember the extrapolator?  Amy is safe.  I don’t know who this man is, but he is not an Auton.  Rory!” he was finally able to catch Rory’s eye.  “Use the wolf.  If he was plastic, you’d be able to smell it.  Plastic _reeks_ , remember?”

Rory closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  Then he seemed to relax.  Not entirely.  Not by a long shot.  When he opened his eyes he looked at the Doctor with a glint of humor in his eyes.  “So _now_ you tell me that I reeked?”

“Well, it was a busy day.  You smell much better now, though,” the Doctor turned away.  Was he blushing?

“He’s not even a good copy,” Amy said, having dismissed Rip and walked back to her husband’s side, allowing him to place himself between her and the rest of the room as the Doctor waved his noisy giant pen thing at Rip.

Jax entered the cargo hold, followed by Martin.  “What’s going on?”  He asked.  Then he spotted Rory.  “Whoa!”

“Oh, my,” Martin muttered, fascinated.

“Not a copy, Rory,” the Doctor announced.  “He is human.”  He continued to dance around, waving the thing and staring at whatever it was telling him.  “Right.”  He looked at Rip.  “I’m the Doctor.  You are?”

“Giving you two seconds to put your hands up,” Rip growled.  “You have boarded my vessel and initiated hostilities.”

“No one is hostile!” the Doctor looked scandalized.  “Well, Rory may have been a bit miffed, but you can hardly blame him.  The plastic did kill Amy, after all.  Not something one forgets, really.”

Sara blinked and shook her head.  These people were strange, but there was something…

“You’re time travelers?” Rip asked disdainfully.

“Not from these parts,” the Doctor smiled.  “We seem to have poked time in the eye, is all.  And then it blinked.”

Rip raised the gun.  “Hands up, or I will shoot.”

“Aw, Doctor, can’t Rory stab him, just a little bit?” Amy pouted.  “He’s really rude.”

“Well, we are on his ship without permission,” the Doctor pointed out.  “It’s not an unreasonable reaction.”

Sara could tell Rip was getting more and more agitated.  These people were _really_ not listening.  In fact, they seemed utterly unconcerned that Rip was about to shoot one of them.  “Who are you,” he growled, “and how did you get aboard my ship, and _why does he have my face_?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Amy clapped him on the shoulder.  “Maybe don’t lead with the blinky eye pokery bit, yeah?”

“But that’s what happened!” he exclaimed.  “But not really.”

Rip fired his weapon.

***


	2. Learning Opportunities

The blast just sort of _ended_ , a few feet in front of the Doctor.  He did not even flinch.  The smile faded from his face, and Sara barely contained a gasp.  No way in hell that man was human.  He looked ancient and ageless and… dangerous.

“Well.  Now we know where we all stand,” he said in a quiet voice before adding, “Definitely _nothing_ like Rory.” But then his face lit up again.  “So glad I hard-wired the extrapolator in, though.  Handy, that.”  He whirled around and touched a hand to Rory’s cheek.

Rory, who had been seething that Rip had fired that shot, seemed to take himself in hand.  He calmed and nodded at the Doctor.  What was that?  Sara frowned.  Some sort of understanding had passed between the two men.  Were they telepathic?  Well, why not, she asked herself.  At the very least, the Doctor was alien.  And she had even heard rumors of telepathy among some meta-humans. 

The Doctor edged up to the place where the blast had ended, facing Rip.  “I am the Doctor,” he repeated.  “I am a Time Lord.  From Gallifrey.”  He smiled.  “A planet long gone from my own universe.  I doubt it even existed, in this one.”

Rip snorted.  “You expect me to believe you’ve come from a parallel universe?  That’s not possible.”

The Doctor sighed.  “I can show you.”

“Yeah.  You do that,” Rip snarked.

The Doctor seemed to deem this as permission granted, because he reached out and pulled Rip towards him.  He then smacked his forehead against Rip’s.  Rip’s blaster went off, the shot scorching the floor midway between Sara and Ray.  So the force field only provided protection, one way.  Sara and the others began backing up, looking for cover.

In the next instant, Rory reached out and grabbed Rip’s blaster.  He looked it over and once he engaged the safety, he tossed it into the far corner, away from everyone else.  Sara put down her batons, and Mick and Len lowered their weapons, as well.  If Rory wasn’t going to use Rip’s blaster from the protection of the force field, then he clearly wasn’t a threat. 

The Doctor and Rip reeled away from one another, holding their heads.  “Oh, I really hate this!” the Doctor exclaimed. 

Rip barely kept his feet.  “What the hell?!” he exclaimed. 

“Now, specifics,” the Doctor said, and bonked his head against Rip’s again.  Both men groaned.  The Doctor wheeled around, and Amy reached out to steady him.  “If people would just _listen_ , this wouldn’t be necessary,” he groused.

Rip staggered towards Rory.  “Does it work both ways?” he asked, reaching out before Rory could react and slamming his head into Rory’s.

“No!” the Doctor shouted.

Rip did not reel or stagger or hold his head, or look comically cross-eyed, as he had when the Doctor had… what?  Transferred information to him?  No, his face was a complete blank as he did a lazy sort of pirouette and fell to the floor.  He began shaking, as though he were having a seizure.

“Doctor, take them away, before they kill him,” Rory said, rubbing his head and looking down at Rip. 

Sara knelt down by Rip, holding his head so it wouldn’t bounce on the floor.  The Doctor knelt beside them and leaned over, pressing his forehead to Rip’s.  Within moments, Rip stopped shaking.  The Doctor stayed there for some minutes, apparently trying to fix whatever had just gone wrong.

She looked up and saw that Rory had not moved.  He had the same blank look that Rip had, but he was still on his feet.  Amy took his hand.  “Rory?” she asked quietly.  “Rory, come sit by the TARDIS.  Let her help you integrate whatever he just forced on you.”  She shot a nasty look at Rip before leading Rory over to the blue box.  He leaned up against it and then slid down to the floor, leaning his head back.  The box seemed to begin thrumming.

The Doctor finally leaned away from Rip, who gasped and sat up.  “What the hell was that?”

“Two communications, given with your consent, to let you know precisely what is going on, followed by one invasion _without consent_ into someone else’s mind.  How _dare_ you!”  He was livid.

“How was I meant to know…”

“You _never_ do such a thing without permission,” the Doctor seethed.  “Two thousand years of memories?  It would have killed you.  Idiot!  And more importantly,” he turned concerned eyes to Rory, who was still leaning against the blue box – is that what they kept calling a TARDIS? – looking pale and pained, “it’s only been six weeks since Barcelona.  If you’ve messed up all the tidying I did, so help me!”  The Doctor wagged a finger at Rip before moving towards his friend.

“Doctor, can’t you just take them away?” Amy asked.

The Doctor shook his head.  “I’m sorry, but I can’t.  Rory integrates the memories too fast.  The best I can do is help him to isolate them and tuck them away in a corner, somewhere.”

“What’s going on here?” Leonard asked.  Sara was impressed he’d stayed quiet this long.

“They are from a parallel universe,” Rip said quietly.  “The two head butts from the Doctor were to transfer information.  The first was general information about his universe, his people, his planet, him.  The second was specific information about the anomaly.  What he called a shimmer and a blink on their side was what Gideon and I were tracking, on our side.  That’s how they ended up landing here.”

“And what was he saying about two thousand years?” Mick asked.

“The transfer opened up my psychic pathways.”  He shrugged.  “I figured it was a good chance to figure out who my doppelganger is.”

“So you did do that on purpose?” Sara frowned.

Rip grimaced.  “I didn’t think it through.  I shouldn’t have done it.  He,” he looked over at Rory and swallowed.  “He has almost two thousand years of memories crammed into a twenty-four year-old brain,” he groaned, rubbing his head. 

“The human brain cannot safely hold more than one hundred and twenty or so years of memories,” Martin interjected.

“Then how is he even functional?” Ray asked.

“He suppressed it until that didn’t work anymore, and then they organized it.  He’s only just recovered from that process.  I… I may have mucked it up, a bit.”

“How do you know this, if the Doctor just took the memories away?” Sara asked.

“He took the memories, but not the knowledge of them, if that makes sense.”

As Rip and the rest of the crew discussed the temporal anomaly and what their next move might be, Sara watched the Doctor kneel down and press his forehead against Rory’s.  “Ren, Love, let me in,” he whispered tenderly.  Sara felt like an intruder for watching, but she couldn’t look away.

The Doctor went still, and she could see him speaking with Rory, occasionally aloud.  “Let’s get this tidied back up again, shall we?” he said quietly.  “Well this is good news, the deadlock seal held, in the mineshaft.  Yes, the Pandorica is open again, but everything is right here – it hasn’t gone far.  We’ll just round it up and put it back, and close it, again.  Everything else seems…  Oh.”

Rory gave a shudder and a groan that held so much pain, it was more like the sound a wounded animal might make.  The others fell silent as a ragged whisper tore from him.  “I can’t keep my babies, no matter the universe.”

Sara felt her eyes burn as she realized that Rory must have received Rip’s memories of his wife and child being murdered.  She looked up at Amy, whose eyes were bright with unshed tears.  She walked over to Rip.  “I am sorry for your loss,” she said quietly.

“And I yours,” he replied.  “I’m sorry, it’s a bit muddled.”

“Only Melody was mine,” Amy said, looking away.  “The others were from a different timeline that he experienced.”  She cleared her throat and turned away, returning to her boys.

“Rory.  This is not your memory.  Step outside of it.  Be the observer.  You do not need to take on this loss.”  After a few moments, the Doctor seemed to smile.  “Good.”  And then.  “Oh, that is lovely.  Yes, I think a trunk under the console is just the place for it.  We’ll find something more permanent in the attic when we get back to our own universe.  You all right?”

Rory was silent, his half of the conversation unheard, though it could be inferred from the Doctor’s responses.

“Oi, you two.  Wrap it up.  Everyone can hear you, Doctor.”

“Sometimes it helps to hear the words, both from the inside and out,” the Doctor said, leaning away from Rory.  He patted Rory’s cheek affectionately before standing.  “Can you stand?”

Rory reached out and grabbed the Doctor’s hand, allowing himself to be hauled to his feet.  The Doctor looked over at Rip.  “How old are you?”

“Linearly?  Thirty-four.”

The Doctor whistled.  “That makes two thousand and five years.”

“Hey!  You broke two millennia,” Amy grinned, though the smile did not reach her eyes.  “That may call for a special celebration,” she purred, clearly trying to cheer her husband.

He gave her a tired smile.  “People have been mucking about in my head again.  I’m a bit knackered.  Assuming no one is going to try to shoot or stab or whack anyone else with a stick,” he looked around wearily, “I think I may go turn in.”  He leaned down and kissed Amy.  “Raincheck on the celebration, though,” he smiled fondly.

“Good idea, Rory,” the Doctor said, turning back to him.  “Get some sleep.  You should feel yourself again after a good night’s sleep.”  The Doctor reached out and kissed Rory before turning back to Rip.

“What the…” Mick trailed off as Rory turned to him with cocked eyebrow and a ‘do you really want to share an opinion on this?’ look as he retrieved his sword and scabbard.

Was that a hum of approval she heard from Len?  Sara used every last ounce of self-control she possessed to avoid looking over at him.

“I think we should consult the TARDIS to see what she recorded when we came through the… rift, perhaps?”  The Doctor carefully avoided calling it a crack.  They’d had quite enough of _those_ , thank you.

“It could be a rift, but those are usually more stable.  Or at least permanent.  Seasoned time travelers don’t just fall into them, at any rate.”

Sara noticed that Rip was giving the Doctor more credit than she would have expected.  Perhaps the mind meld thingy had been helpful, after all.

“The other possibility is that it is a portal, or some sort,” the Doctor mused, frowning.

“That would imply someone deliberately opened it,” Rip replied, also frowning.  “From which side, though?”

Rory watched the interaction for a moment, too tired to pay much heed to the pangs of jealousy as the Doctor conversed with another man who was far more clever and versed in the timey-wimey than Rory.  And he looked like Rory.  What if the Doctor decided to trade up?

“Stop it,” the Doctor chided.

“You weren’t meant to hear that,” Rory grumbled.

“You were just assaulted.  Your mind is wide open,” the Doctor replied.  “Go sleep.  It will help.”

“Going,” Rory said.  “But aren’t you all…” he waved his hand.

“Oh, yes!” the Doctor rubbed his hands together.  “The best part.  Don’t blame you for not wanting to miss it, Rory.”

“That’s not what I…”  Rory shook his head and walked into the blue box.  The TARDIS.  Sara wasn’t sure how the three of them fit.

“Come along, then.”  He followed Rory in.  Amy ran after him, seeming to be in a hurry to get ahead of them all.

Rip was the first to enter.  Everyone sort of bottle-necked at the door, gaping.

“It’s…” Leonard began.

“…bigger…” said Mick and Ray, in unison.

“…on the…” Martin stammered, trying to take it all in.

“…inside!” Jax laughed.

“Yes!” the Doctor crowed, pleased that his favorite part had gone so swimmingly.

Sara found herself smiling as she looked around.  It was beautiful!  And it was so soothing!  The scrape of the world didn’t seem to chafe, here.  Her eyes came to rest on the Doctor, whose old eyes were smiling kindly at her.

As everyone wandered around, the Doctor went to the console.  Rory hung his scabbard on the coat rack near the door and followed the Doctor.  “Is she all right?” he asked, running a hand gently along the console.  Since getting closer to the Doctor, Rory had also grown closer to the TARDIS.  Amy had, as well, but Rory seemed to have a greater capacity for the connection.  He had the distinct impression that she did the TARDIS equivalent of purr when he paid her such attentions.  Except at the moment, though his touch did seem to sooth her, at least.

“She’s coping,” the Doctor said quietly.  “It’s like you said – it’s prickly, here.  You can tell we don’t quite belong – like we’re forcing our way in between the air molecules.”

Rory nodded.  Just then, Amy came up between them.  Slinging an arm across each man’s shoulders, she said conspiratorially, “Rory has a twin, and I’m not in the _least_ intrigued,” she quipped.  “What _is_ the world coming to?”

“Practicalities, Pond.  The bed isn’t big enough,” the Doctor remarked offhandedly as he spun away, punching something into the kitschy console.

Sara bit back a laugh, not wanting them to realize she was eavesdropping. 

“Oh, the TARDIS would accommodate everyone, if she were so inclined,” Amy gave a wicked grin.  Either Rip was growing on her, or she was winding up her husband and their Doctor.

“But I wouldn’t,” Rory said flatly.  At Amy’s raised eyebrow, he added, “I only invite people that I like into my bed, thank you.”  He kissed the end of her nose, and she giggled.

The Doctor chuckled as he continued circling the console, flipping switches and pulling levers.  “Roman,” he muttered.

“Oh, you were a right slut, weren’t you, Mr. Pond?” Amy laughed.

“No,” he said defensively.  The Doctor scoffed.  “Well, all right, yes.  But it _was_ Rome.”

“Oh, you’ll never hear me complain,” Amy laughed again, swatting Rory on the behind.

“Nor me,” the Doctor whirled around, grabbing a handful of Rory’s backside as he went.

Rory chuckled.  Clearly their efforts to cheer him were working.  Sara smiled at their easy banter.

The others made their way to the console, and there was a small “ding”.  The Doctor swung the overhead monitor around.  “That’s it!”

“What am I looking at?” Rip asked.

“It _is_ a shimmer,” the Doctor muttered.  “Oh, well done!  That _is_ clever.”

“What?”

“It’s a very cleverly constructed portal.  Space has been sort of rippled, and a door carved out.  So you don’t notice the door because it’s concealed in fold of the ripple.  But who did this?”

“Can you tell which side it was constructed on?” Rip asked.  He could now see the distortion, or ripple. 

“Definitely ours,” the Doctor frowned.  “I can think of only a few species who could pull this off,” he mused.

“Could there be a clue to who did this in how it was done?” Martin wondered aloud.

“A temporal signature in how it was carved.  Brilliant!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“That’s me done,” Rory muttered, kissing Amy and patting the Doctor on the shoulder before walking away.  Sara watched him climb the stairs to the side of the console and disappear down a corridor.  Just how big was this ship?  She decided to explore while the Doctor, Rip, Martin and Ray all did the braniac thing.

She found a vast library that was beautiful and overwhelming.  She spent at least two hours, there.  Then she found a garden.  Then a small movie theater.  The more she explored, the more she found, and she was laughing when she came upon a rather plain-looking kitchen.

Amy and Jax were there, sipping tea.  Amy poured Sara a cup.  As she settled into her seat, Mick and Len came in, bickering.  “How can this ship have nothing but hallways, never leading to anything except a room full of rubber chickens?” Mick asked.

“And who the hell keeps a room full of rubber chickens, anyway?”

Amy gave them a knowing look as she handed them tea.  “She’s psychic, you know.  She’s not going to let you steal anything from the Doctor.”

“Who said anything about stealing?” Len asked, acting offended.

“You just did,” Amy smiled.  “If you had no ill intent, she would have shown you almost every door.”  She turned to Sara.  “You found doors, right?”

Sara nodded.  “I found the library and the garden and a movie theater and a gallery…”

“She showed you the gallery?”  Amy smiled.  “She must like you.”

“Wait.  The ship is psychic.  Is that why the Doctor and Rory keep sort of… petting her?” Jax asked.

Amy smiled.  “Yes.  They’re more connected to her than I am, so they can sense her discomfort.”

“Discomfort?” Len asked, frowning.

“We don’t belong here,” Amy shrugged.  “Even I feel that.  But I know the Doctor, and before we leave he’s going to have to be sure that whatever it is from our universe doesn’t do any harm here.”

“Is that what you three do?” Sara asked.  “Just travel around and… fix things?”

Amy chuckled.  “I suppose that’s as good a way of saying it as any.  She usually takes us where we need to be, so we can help.”

***


	3. Making Peace with Oneself

Rory woke the next morning feeling much more himself.  His first task was to extricate himself from the tangle of limbs that enveloped him.  Together, the Doctor and Amy formed a sort of two-headed cuddle octopus – eight very tactile, very embracing, very comforting limbs that twined around his when they slept. 

Most nights, they were able to keep the nightmares at bay.

He dressed in a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants and left the TARDIS.  As he suspected, some of the Waverider’s crew were up early, working out.  Sara was doing some sort of martial arts forms.  Len and Mick were lifting weights.  Ray was running on a treadmill.  Jax was doing burpees and other exercises that looked tedious and exhausting to Rory. 

“Morning,” Ray waved.

“Morning,” Rory said.  He looked at Sara.  “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” she replied.

At his gesture, she handed him her bow staff.  As he looked it over, she asked, “So… what is an Auton?”

Rory grimaced.  “Plastic robots – like mannequins, but completely real looking.  They’re animated by a species called the Nestene Consciousness.  Act as their soldiers.”

“And you’ve encountered a double of yourself, that was an Auton?”

“Not exactly.”  He shook his head.  He looked at her, and she was surprised to see how very old he looked, in that moment.  He seemed to come to a decision, because he nodded.  “The second time I died, I was erased from history.  It was as though I had never existed.  Amy… didn’t remember me, until it was too late.  The Doctor did, though.”

Sara’s eyes were wide.  The _second_ time he died?  She did not miss the pain of being forgotten, though he seemed to have made peace with it.

“The next thing I knew, I woke up and was a centurion.  Grew up in Rome.  Trained as a soldier.  Had a family.  Fought in… too many battles.  An entire lifetime of memories.  None of it real,” he said, and she caught the bitterness.  “And then one day, I remembered my old life, too.  With Amy, and the Doctor.  Soon after, they came.  But within an hour of finding one another…”

He trailed off, and Sara recognized his struggle to maintain control.  Unexpectedly, he hit himself in the head with the bow staff and then leaned against it and sighed.  “We locked Amy in the Pandorica,” he saw her confusion and added, “a giant prison box – can’t even escape by dying – and the Doctor time-travelled to the future.  I stayed to guard the box and took the slow path.”

Sara took the bow staff away from him.  _He_ had somehow been the Auton who hurt Amy.  Killed Amy, according to the Doctor.  “So the Pandorica… healed her?” she asked.

Rory nodded.  “And then the universe got rebooted.”  He smiled.  “Don’t worry.  We’re all mad, here.”

She laughed and stepped away, back to doing forms with her bow staff.  Rory didn’t have his sword, but he decided to do one of the forms that he had taught himself, during the long years of his vigil.  He had a lot to choose from.  There had been one form that took seventy-two hours.  He still remembered every move, though he had only done parts of it since the universe rebooted.

“How about a spar?” Sara asked as he finished one of his harder forms that involved movements so slow and deliberate that they took every ounce of his focus and strength.  He found that he was sweating, but the effort had served to help shake off the sorrow and shame that had arisen as he’d told Sara about the plastic.

He looked at Sara’s staff.  “I’ve never trained with one of those,” he said doubtfully.

Sara wondered at his lack of confidence.  How could the man who had just done one of the most intense series of forms she had ever seen doubt that he could spar with her?  “Well, we can do the batons, then.”  When he opened his mouth to protest, she stopped him.  “Look, clearly you’ve done a lot of training with a sword, and you’re ambidextrous, so how are two batons that different?”

He blinked.  “I suppose I hadn’t thought of it, that way,” he chuckled.  “Okay, I’m game.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Mick muttered as he walked by.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Rory winked at him. 

Leonard chuckled, and Sara laughed.  “Unless you’re really good at brawling, you should probably quit while you’re ahead,” she advised.

For the next half hour, Rory and Sara sparred with the batons.  It took a few minutes for Rory to become accustomed to the difference in weight and grip, but even as he became more familiar with the weapons, he still held back.

“Look,” Sara said, exasperated.  “Don’t worry about hurting me.  The med bay can fix any damage.”

“Just because it can be fixed doesn’t mean I’m eager to _cause_ damage,” Rory protested.

“You’re not going to hurt me, Rory,” she smiled.  “This does me no good if you’re holding back.  You know this.”

“All right,” he conceded.  Soon he was offering Sara the most challenging and enjoyable sparring session she’d had since leaving the League.

The Doctor and Amy had come out with coffee and were watching.  The others stopped, as well, enjoying the demonstration.

“Mind if I cut in?” Rip asked when they took a break for water.  Rory was surprised to see that Rip was speaking to Sara.

“I guess not,” she said, though she seemed to be a bit hesitant.  She handed Rip her batons.

For some moments, Rory and Rip simply circled one another, each sizing the other up.  Rory felt the heat of Rip’s dislike, and he realized what Rip was here for.  He sighed.  The Doctor and Amy would be cross, but Sara said their med bay could take care of any damage.  He nodded, decision made.

Rory held nothing back, going after Rip with every ounce of strength he had.  Soon the batons were abandoned, and they were standing toe to toe.  It was then that Rory began holding back again, allowing Rip to score more hits than he would normally have been able.

On the sidelines, Amy started squirming, but she said nothing.  Mick and Len were sitting to Sara’s left, the Doctor and Amy to her right.  All of them were concerned at the turn of events.

Rory dropped one of his hands, just enough.  Rip waded in, encircling Rory with one arm and delivering two brutal blows to his ribs with his free hand.  Having knocked him off balance, Rip threw him to the ground. 

Rory stalled a tick before attempting to rise, and then Rip was on him, throwing punch after punch.  But rather than releasing his anger, his blows seemed to feed it.  He was hitting Rory harder and harder, rather than tiring out.

“Doctor?” Amy whispered, concerned.

Rip hit Rory hard enough that they all heard his nose break.

“Rory, that is enough!” the Doctor roared, rising from his seat.

Sara looked at him, confused.  But in the next moment, she understood.  As Rip drew back to throw another punch, Rory reached up and delivered three swift rabbit punches to Rip’s throat.  Rip’s hands flew to his throat, and Rory easily threw him off.

“Huh,” Mick muttered, surprised.

Rory stood, shaking his head to clear it.  He hadn’t brawled since Renatus was a teenager.  He remembered it being more fun.  Then again, drunk teenagers have the damnedest ideas of fun.  And he had never aimed to lose, back then.  He turned towards the Doctor and Amy, dabbing at his bleeding nose and preparing himself for a thorough tongue-lashing.

“Folia tantum bello fit homo ignobilis,” Rip sneered.[1]

“Damn,” the Doctor muttered.

“What?” Amy asked, watching as Rory grew very, very still.  His eyes shuttered and turned dark.

“Never question the honor of a Roman,” the Doctor gritted.  “Particularly an honorable one.”

Rory turned back to Rip.  He just stood, waiting for Rip’s advance.  When Rip threw his next punch, Rory leaned his body away from the punch, casually deflected it with his left hand, and delivered another rabbit punch to Rip’s temple with his right.

Rip dropped like a sack of rocks.

“Holy shit,” Mick muttered.

Rory stared at Rip for a moment, then turned his head and spit blood onto the floor.  A faint clicking noise could be heard as a tooth bounced away.  “Puer,” he growled.[2]

“That really should not be sexy,” Amy muttered.

“It really, really shouldn’t,” the Doctor agreed.

“Well, that was troubling,” Len said, almost casually.  He looked at Sara.  “You catch that?”

She nodded.

“What?” Amy asked, frowning.

“Our Rip just beat the shit out of himself, essentially,” Len began.  “And your Rory just allowed Rip to beat the shit out of him, when he could have ended that fight before it even began.”

The Doctor frowned.  He had really hoped that Rory’s self-loathing had begun to recede.  Then again, perhaps this was what he needed in order to lay it to rest.  The Doctor could only hope.  Besides that, he was fairly certain that the bulk of what had just transpired was Rory helping Rip, allowing him an outlet.  Allowing him to see that self-harm was not helpful.

Amy made to rise, but the Doctor stilled her with a hand on her forearm.  “It’s not often one has the opportunity to make peace with oneself,” he said.  Amy sat back, watching the two men.

Rip slowly sat up.  Rory took off his shirt and sat down next to Rip.  Dabbing his nose with it, Rory said, “Did it help?”

“I can’t say it wasn’t a bit satisfying,” Rip said, rubbing his temple.  “But help?  No, not really.”  He looked over to Rory, who was bleeding quite a bit and wheezing slightly – from a cracked or broken rib, by the sound of it.  But he sat there dabbing at his nose, impassive, waiting for Rip to sort himself out.  “You?”

Rory shrugged.  “Hurting myself doesn’t help.  Never has.  Don’t expect it ever will.”

“So that was entirely for my benefit?”

“Just because it doesn’t help doesn’t mean there’s not still the occasional inclination to do penance.”

“Penance?  You?  I can’t save my wife and son from being murdered.  What can you have possibly done?”

“Haven’t you figured that out, yet?”  Rory spit again.  “I was the Auton that killed Amy.  Try to live with _that_ , mate.”

Rip stared at him.  From Rory’s memories, he remembered the universe ending, and holding Amy’s body.  But he had not remembered _that_.  “But you’re human.  Aren’t you?”

“At the moment,” Rory nodded.  “Long, complicated story,” he muttered.

Rip stood and pulled Rory to his feet.  Together, they headed for the med bay as a chime was heard from the TARDIS’ control room.  “We have a lead!” the Doctor said, heading for the TARDIS.

It only took a few minutes for Gideon to take samples from Rory and heal his injuries.  “Rip, I am detecting certain anomalies,” Gideon began. 

“Hunter!  We have a destination!” the Doctor leaned into the med bay.  “Rory, get cleaned up and grab your centurion gear.”  He ran back out, Rip right behind him.  “We’re going to Rome!” he yelled as they headed for the bridge.

Rory felt a small thrill at the thought of returning to Rome.  Different universe, but still.  It had been one of his homes, after all…

***

 

[1] Only a man without honor leaves a battle before it is done.

[2] Child


	4. Reunions

Rory and Sara ambled along, finding their bearings after leaving the Waverider.  Mick and Len had gone off in one direction, Jax and Martin in another.  Rip was scouting out the market.  The Doctor and Amy had stayed in the TARDIS, monitoring the fluctuating readouts and controlling the drones as they watched the footage being collected. 

Sara could tell that Amy was none too happy about being left behind, but she had conceded, to put Rory’s mind at ease, and on the condition that he would keep his centurion gear on, for the evening.

Rory stopped, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.  He was frowning.

“Rory?” Sara asked.

“Problem?” the Doctor asked through their comm links.

“It’s so weird,” Rory said.  “This looks and smells more like the place I… Renatus…” he sighed, “ _I_ grew up, than the place I returned to with the Pandorica.  How can that be?”

“Well, there is a fifteen year difference,” the Doctor speculated, but even Sara wasn’t buying it.

“The things I’m talking about are not things that change that quickly,” Rory muttered, still frowning.  “Like street layouts.”  He pointed.  “Look – that stall, right there.  I _remember_ that stall.  But it wasn’t in Rome when…”  He began turning in circles.  “Wait…”  His eyes widened.  “Change of plan, Doctor.  We’re heading east.”

“Rory, stick to the plan,” Rip growled.

Sara stared after him, but then followed.  A modest distance from the city center was a pretty but unassuming… neighborhood, Sara would call it, in a modern setting.  There was a villa.  Rory was standing before it, staring wide-eyed.

“Rory?” she asked.  He looked as though he were in shock.

“Renatus?” a familiar voice called out. 

Sara stared.  “Oh my God,” she said.

“What is it?” Rip asked.

“Oh dear,” the Doctor muttered over the comm’s, having just seen the drone’s footage.

“Is that Amy?” Sara asked.

“Renatus, it’s you!  You’re home!”  A lovely, softer, not-Scottish version of Amy came running up to Rory, a baby in her arms.  She shoved the infant into Sara’s arms and flung herself at Rory.

“Doctor?” Amy could be heard asking over the comm’s.

The woman reached up, and with nimble fingers and practiced movements, released his breastplate in a matter of seconds.  As it clattered to the ground, Sara heard Amy say, “Oh, she’s got mad skills!  I’ve never been able to get that thing off him that quickly!”

Sara had to chuckle as the woman was now able to press herself against Rory and kiss him quite thoroughly.  He flailed his arms for a few seconds, but then his resistance seemed to crumble as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss, with interest.  “Aelia,” he whispered when they parted.

She kissed him again and turned to Sara, taking the child back with a look of thanks.  “Say hello to Aurelia,” she said.

Rory was having great difficulty controlling his emotions.  He took the infant in his arms and looked at her with such love and devotion that Sara felt a hitch in her own throat.  “But you wrote… you said she died of fever,” he looked up at his… wife?

“There was a healer who came.  She saved Aurelia’s life.  You must have only gotten the first letter.  I am sorry, Dearest.”

“Papa!” sang out a small chorus of voices.  Two children, about five years old, came running up. 

Rory fell to his knees and, Aurelia cradled in one arm, wrapped the other around the two children, holding them close.  “Claudia.  Drusus.  My darlings!”  He felt Aelia’s arms around him as the small family huddled on the ground, afraid to let go.

“Doctor, _what_ is going on?” Amy asked.

“Let him have this, Amy,” the Doctor sounded incredibly sad. 

Sara frowned.  What did he know, that they did not?  In the next moment, she heard a voice that chilled her with its menace.

“Why that must be Rory Williams,” came a malevolent purr.

Rory stiffened.  He gave a great sigh as he pulled away from his family.  He looked at Aelia and caressed her face.  “I am so glad I got to see you again,” he whispered, giving her a tender kiss.  He handed Aurelia to her and said, “I need for you to go with my friend Sara.  She will keep you and the children safe.

“Renatus, what is happening?” Aelia asked, her eyes wide.  “It is only the healer.  She is the one who saved Aurelia.

Rory gave a laugh.  “Of course she did,” he spat bitterly.  “Aelia, all is not as it seems.  She serves the darkness.”

Aelia gasped.  “But…”  She looked towards the healer and gave a small shriek.  Sara drew her blade. 

“Shh,” Rory soothed, pulling her eyes back to him so she would forget the Silence.  “I will take care of this.”  He kissed her again.  Then he kissed the babe in her arms.  “Make sure she knows… make sure _they_ know, that their father loves them.  So much, and always.”

It was the promise he extracted from her each time he went off to fight.  That he was asking now filled her with dread, but she drew herself up and promised.  “They will always know.”

He embraced and kissed each of the twins, and then he stood.  He looked to Sara, who was facing the woman and the Silence.  “Take them inside.  Protect my family, please.”  She made to look at him, but he touched her cheek, keeping her face turned towards the Silence.  “You will forget them the moment you take your eyes off of them.  But remember this.  When you see one, do not look away from it until you have killed it.  Understood?”

She nodded and turned away, herding Aelia and the children into the villa.

“Rip, do not let her see you,” he said in a low voice.  “And you two,” he glanced up at the drone.  “For God’s sake, _stay where you are!_ ”

He turned around.  There were a half-dozen Silence standing behind Madame Kovarian.  “Would you like to know how I know you are Rory Williams?” she asked.  When he refused to humor her, she continued.  “Renatus Lupus Petran fell in Dacia, five months ago.”

Rory blinked.  He remembered being wounded in battle in Dacia, but…  He cast the confusion aside, knowing she was trying to distract him.

“We had heard of an Alliance forming.  All of the Doctor’s enemies, banding together.  Why, we didn’t know.  Almost all evidence has been erased.  The members of the Alliance don’t even know that it was ever formed, much less why.  But we noticed this portal, and we followed, to see why they would do something so risky.

“We captured one before they returned to our universe.  That’s all it takes, since all members of the Nestene Consciousness are connected.  Find one’s secrets, and you know them all.”  She smirked.  “And we found out that one of our plans, to blow up the TARDIS, was apparently not a good one.  Jeopardized all of time and space.  Caused the Alliance to form.”  She shrugged.  “No matter.  We have other plans.

“The Alliance conducted a search of several parallel universes, and an historical version of Rory Williams was found in this universe, in the form of Renatus Lupus Petran.  It was not difficult for the Nestene Consciousness to determine when he fell.  They found him before he expired and extracted his consciousness.  His, and fifty of his fellows who also fell, that day.”

She stepped closer, enjoying her monologue.  Rory held still, allowing her to feel comfortable coming within his reach.  “It will interest you to know that they had already found where _you_ had fallen, under the Earth.  They extracted your consciousness before the light took you.  Sacrificed several of their own on that mission, since they had to wait for the Doctor to leave you.  And so they used the combined consciousness of Petran and you to form a plastic Centurion that would betray the Doctor.”  She gave an evil smile and stepped closer.

“I was intrigued, so I came here and found your wife in mourning for the child.  So I went back a few months and saved it, taking an imprint.”  Rory growled and she chuckled.  “Never know when that might come in useful.”  She stood in front of him and smiled broadly.  “And you are _quite_ angry.  That tells me some part of our plan will be successful.”

“Rory, no!” the Doctor grated in his ear.  “You cannot kill her.  Not here.  And not now, because we don’t know whether she has taken Amy, yet.”

“You snake,” Rory seethed, and Kovarian flinched.  Rory had been reading up on the Papal Mainframe.  Its followers were not fond of the image of the serpent.  “You fucking viper!”  He was shaking with rage.  He reached out and punched her so hard her eye drive flew off and she landed several feet back, hard, on her backside.

He ducked as one of the Silence sent a bolt of energy at him.  He pulled his sword, facing down the lot of them.

Kovarian looked terrified.  “Kill him!  Kill them all!  Find the Doctor!  Leave a dozen here.  Burn the city.  Raze it.  Find the Doctor and kill him, once and for all.”  She faced one of the Silence.  “You sacrifice will be noted.  This Earth will be your reward.  Conquer it, and it is yours.”  She ran away.

Rory jumped and rolled, grabbing Kovarian’s abandoned eye drive.  He crammed it onto his eye and began to fight in earnest.  He heard Leonard and Mick shouting.  There was a scream from the house, but by this point he had taken several hits from the Silence.  Most of them were glancing, but he knew he could not take another.

He heard what was happening, almost as though there was a part of him sitting back and observing with the Doctor and Amy.  One of the Silence had made it into the villa, but Sara had dispatched it.  Mick and Leonard had each taken down one, which made Rory wonder what the hell good those guns were for, after all.  Firestorm (he really would have liked to have seen how that worked) had taken another as it fled to begin burning the city.

Rory had beheaded five, so far.  No, the one falling at his feet made six.  A crossed beam of fire and ice obliterated another.  That only left…  He heard it, behind him.  He ducked and turned, slashing as he went.  He wounded the thing, but it had anticipated his move and hit him full in the chest with a bolt of bright blue lightening.

“Rory!” he heard Amy scream, from very far away.

He was on his back, staring up at the sky.  A strange bird was hovering, nearby.  No, that would be the drone.  It was blocked out as the Silence limped up to him.  It raised its hand, seeming to power up. 

“I love you both, so very much,” he whispered, staring defiantly at the Silence.

And then its head exploded.  Rory blinked, and then saw Rip standing over him.  “Get him to the med bay,” he said, just as Aelia ran up.  Rip ducked away before she could see him.

“Renatus, no!” she wept.

“Shh, it’s all right,” he stroked her cheek.  “I am glad I got to see you and the children again.”  He smiled.  His breath caught.  The pain was so great it had ceased to exist.  Circuits overloaded, as the Doctor would say.  The darkness began to descend.  “It’s all right.  You’ll be fine.  You know how I love you.”  He was speaking to Aelia, but his words were meant to find Amy and the Doctor, as well. 

He thought they knew that. 

He hoped they knew that. 

He…

The drone captured Rory’s blank eyes, staring up at nothing.  Each team member winced at Amy’s howl of pain.

“Ma’am, we need to take him,” Mick picked Rory up as Leonard pulled Aelia away.

“We will take care of the arrangements,” Leonard told her kindly.  “You understand, with the strangeness of these happenings, that this is…”

She looked at the strange corpses and remembered the one in her villa.  How had she forgotten it?  She nodded, frowning.

Listening to the Doctor’s instructions, Leonard led her back to the villa and told her that she would hear soon that her husband had fallen in Dacia.  This was so those who served the darkness would not realize that her husband had helped defeat them.  It would protect her, and her family.

He left her then, weeping in her courtyard as Firestorm and Sara cleared the corpse of the Silence from her home.  They carried all of the bodies into an open area near town and set them alight.

***


	5. Anomalies

“Organ and tissue damage is catastrophic.  Resuscitation may not be possible,” Gideon said.

“Do it,” Rip insisted, losing his patience.  “All we need is the slightest spark, and then put him into stasis.”

Gideon worked for several long moments before calmly telling them, “Clear.”

Amy and the Doctor dropped Rory’s hands and watched as a jolt was sent to his brain.  After the third jolt, he gave a great gasp, and before he could settle back onto the treatment chair, he was placed in stasis.

The Doctor frowned.  “What is that?”  He leaned forward and placed his forehead to Rory’s.  Within seconds he reared back.  “That is him, screaming.  He is conscious – he feels everything!  All of the injuries, and all of the jiggery-pokery you are doing.  You need to anesthetize him, now!”

“He is in stasis.  How can he be conscious?” Rip frowned.  Nevertheless, he moved to quickly administer the necessary drugs.

The Doctor sighed in relief as he noted Rory’s.  Then he frowned again, feeling the TARDIS, _outside_ of the TARDIS.  “What are you doing?”

“Rip, the TARDIS’ consciousness has entered my circuitry,” Gideon said.  “I do not perceive a threat, but I cannot eject the presence, either.”

Rip looked to the Doctor, who shrugged.  “Sorry, but she literally has a mind of her own.”

“I am detecting the same anomalies in the patient’s genetic structure as before,” Gideon remarked.

“What do you mean, before?” Rip asked.

“I attempted to inform you when treating his injuries earlier.  There are significant mutations in the patient’s DNA.”

“Show me,” the Doctor said, feeling a flutter of disquiet.  What he saw flash up onto the screen made his knees weak.

“What is that?” Rip asked, frowning.

“What have you done?” the Doctor shouted. 

A moment later, Gideon appeared on the screen.  “The TARDIS has requested a voice interface.  Please stand by.  Within seconds, Idris appeared on the screen.”

“Please don’t be angry, my Thief,” she pleaded.

“Tell me what is happening,” the Doctor snarled.

She flinched.  “When you gave my Pretty the vaccine, it caused a remembering.  You worked so hard on his mind that you did not notice his body.”  A picture of Rory’s genetic structure flashed up on the screen.  “This was before the vaccine.”  It showed the effect of the fever.  It showed Rory dying, at a cellular level.  “And this is just after.”

The next picture was startling.  The Doctor frowned.  “That’s a mutation to… plastic!”

“His body was plastic for almost two millennia.  As his mind remembered, so did his body begin to.  But…” she looked abashed.  “I could see that if he turned back to plastic, it would destroy all of you.  Madness and rage…”

“So you made a substitution,” the Doctor said softly.

“I could not reverse what was happening, so yes.  I did the only thing I could.  I used your DNA as a template.”

“Why not Amy’s?”

“Here is his DNA, just before Barcelona,” she flashed another picture up.  “The age of his mind had already affected his genetic structure.  The orangey one was not compatible.”

“Extrapolate his condition if we just repair him,” he said.  Gideon and the TARDIS showed him the results.

He ran his hand through his hair.  “This would have been true, even if he had not been injured today.”  He sighed.  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I did what I could to repair his body as you were repairing his mind.  When he woke…  You were all so happy.  I did not wish to mar that, so soon after you had found it.”

“And when were you going to tell me?”

“Soon,” came the vague reply.

“And you are going to suggest a better alternative?”

“You already know the only path left.”

He sighed.  “Amy, come here, please.”

Amy had been watching the exchange with growing uneasiness.  The Doctor sat her down in a chair, and he took another, pulling it close.  He took her hands in his.  “Amy, the vaccine…”

“I heard.  It caused a mutation, and he was turning into plastic, so the TARDIS made some sort of… substitution?”

“Yes.  She used my DNA as a template.”  He sighed.  “But the modified DNA was no longer compatible with the structure of his body.  That’s why it has taken so long for him to recover.  Why he’s been hiding from us that he is still feeling fatigued and unwell.”

“Damn it, Rory,” she muttered.

“He thought it was normal.  So did I, for that matter.  At least, that had been my hope.”  He sighed.  “Gideon can repair him.  Restore everything.  But he’ll still be facing the same… incompatibility.”

Amy stared at him, her eyes wide.  “And?”

“And he would likely not survive more than a year.”

She looked as though she had taken a physical blow.  Shock and a feeling of illness swept over her. 

The Doctor squeezed her hands.  “There is an alternative, but it is…” he sighed.  “Monstrous,” he whispered.

“What?” she asked, grasping at hope.

“It is highly likely that his… changed DNA would support a different physiological structure.”  He was shaking as he squeezed her hands again.  “A structure like mine.”

Amy stared at him.  Blinked.  “How is that monstrous?”

“Because it would… he would lose the last of his physical humanity.”

“And?”

The Doctor sighed.  “His lifespan would expand.  Exponentially.  Not immortality, he could still be killed.”

“Regeneration?”

He shook his head.  “I don’t think so.  But he would likely live for thousands of years, aging very slowly.  We would have to modify the structure of his brain, as well, to enable him to survive.”  He sighed, looking very sad.  “Amy, I…  I don’t know that this is what he would want.”

Amy looked resolute.  “Then we should ask him.”  She stood.  “Can you take me into his mind with you?”

The Doctor looked at her.  “Amy, I don’t think you understand.”

“What is there to understand?  We lose him in a year, or you both live long, glorious lives, missing me after a few more decades.  Those are the choices, yeah?”

The Doctor looked at her.

She rolled her eyes.  “And in option two, I’ll get old and pathetic, while you two stay young and fit.  Have I missed anything?”

“You are so Scottish,” the Doctor grinned.  He stood and took her into his arms.  Kissing her, he said, “He may choose option one, Amy.”

She nodded.  “Maybe, but I don’t think Rory would ever leave love on the table.”

***


	6. Rory’s Choice

The Doctor and Amy entered the TARDIS in Rory’s mind.  They found him huddled in a corner in the area under the console.  Idris was kneeling before him, stroking his head.

“Dying and returning hurts,” she said, standing.  “I am going to go copy all of Gideon’s software and assess all of her designs, to see what might be useful to grow.”  She looked around.  “I like your mind space, Pretty.”  She leaned down and kissed his cheek.  Then she vanished.

Rory had made himself as small as he could.  He was sat in the corner with his knees to his chest, his head resting on his knees.  His arms were hugging his legs tightly.  He was gently rocking himself.  Amy bit her lip.  Rory only rocked when he was truly distraught.

The Doctor nudged the wall back and sat behind Rory.  He wrapped one arm around Rory’s chest and the other around the backs of his thighs.  Holding him close, he rested his head against the back of Rory’s neck.

Amy sat on Rory’s feet and stretched her legs over the Doctor’s, planting her feet on the floor on either side of his hips.  One arm snaked between Rory’s back and the Doctor’s chest, and the other hand tangled in his hair.

Rory was trembling.  _It hurts.  It hurts.  It hurts so much._  

“It’s all right, Ren.  It will pass,” the Doctor soothed.

 _Jack was right.  It’s like being hauled over broken glass.  Oh, God.  Poor Jack!_ Rory gave a sob.

Amy and the Doctor lifted their heads.  Amy’s confused eyes met the Doctor’s startled ones.  He gave his head a quick shake and mouthed, _Later_.  She nodded and he closed his eyes, trying to offer some comfort to Rory.  It was startling to feel how raw and vulnerable and fragile his stalwart Roman felt.

The Doctor began to sing an old Gallifreyan lullaby as he and Amy continued to hold Rory, powerless to do anything else as he silently quaked.  After some time, he calmed.  The Doctor kissed his temple.  “Better?”

Rory nodded, wiping his eyes.  “Sorry.  That was worse than when I drowned.”

The three stood and the Doctor and Amy led Rory over to the futon, where he sat between them.  Looking from one to the other, he sighed.  “What is it?”

The Doctor sighed.  He explained the cellular mutation and what the TARDIS had done to keep Rory from turning to plastic.  He then explained the prognosis, should they simply fix his humany parts.

“Is that why I’ve felt so crummy?” he asked.

The Doctor nodded. 

Rory looked from one to the other.  He kissed Amy and pulled her to him as he turned to kiss the Doctor.  “It’s not enough time,” he sighed.  “But if it’s all I have left, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend it with.”

The Doctor hesitated as Amy lifted a knowing eyebrow at him.  He went on to explain the other option, and its ramifications.

Rory stood and walked away from them, deep in thought.  “Nothing is ever done by halves around here, is it?” he ran a hand through his hair.  “Not immortal?”

“Definitely not,” the Doctor replied.  “But likely far more resilient.”

“Thousands of years?”

“It wouldn’t be as burdensome, with some modifications to your brain structure to help it accommodate that many years.”

Rory’s shoulders sagged.  The thought of outliving Amy by millennia _hurt_.  But the idea of staying with the Doctor… that is, if the Doctor would have him… 

The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rory.  “Of course I would,” he whispered, kissing Rory’s cheek.

Rory turned, and the Doctor released him.  He looked at his wife.  “What do you think?” he asked.  His heart ached.

Amy looked at him fiercely.  “I think a year is not enough.”  She hesitated, just enough for him to notice.  “And if you can live with me getting old, then I can live with you staying young.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Why are we even talking about this?” she asked angrily.  “Either we only have a year, and you’ll be unwell, or we’ll have a good number of years before I get decrepit.”  She shrugged.  “Unless you can’t deal with me getting old, I don’t see a problem.”

“You do remember me kissing Now Amy at the Two Streams facility, don’t you?” he grinned.

“Well, technically she kissed you.”

“And technically, I kissed her back.”

“Perv.”  She was smiling again.

“Roman,” he corrected.  He looked at the Doctor and his smile faded at the expression he saw.  “Doctor?”

“Rory, you will no longer be human, physiologically,” he sighed. 

“Will I still be me?” Rory asked.  He gathered the Doctor into his arms.  “In my heart – metaphorically speaking, I suppose – and in my mind, will I still be me?”

The Doctor blinked.  Smiled.  “Yes, you will.”

“So nothing about this process will change who I am?” Rory clarified.

“Long life gives a different perspective.  Difficult decisions become more clear… just as difficult, but harder to avoid.  It can make one seem… a bit cold.”

“Two thousand and five years, Doctor.  Do you think I have not faced difficult decisions?”

The Doctor thought of Two Streams and gave a shiver.  Only Now Amy had kept Rory from opening that door.

_You’re wrong.  I was not going to let her in.  I was going to join her.  I didn’t want her to die alone.  But then she told me not to open the door…_

The Doctor startled.  He looked at Amy, who had not heard Rory’s thoughts.  His eyes returned to Rory, who held his gaze steadily.  He gave a jerky nod, shaken.

Rory stepped in front of the Doctor.  “Tell me, Doctor.  Am I still me, after all this time?”

The Doctor looked at Rory.  _So_ different, and yet unchanged in his fundamental essence.  He smiled and nodded.

“And will I still be me, once this is done?”

The Doctor nodded again.  Amy stepped up to them and put her arms around both of them.

“Well, then,” Rory smiled. 

The Doctor grinned.  “I forget that you are the most human, when you’re not.”  He reached out and kissed Rory.  “You’re sure?”

Rory nodded.

“Okay.  Amy and I are going to leave you here to… have some time to let things settle.  The process shouldn’t take more than a few hours.  I’ll check in on you.  All right?”

Rory took Amy in his arms and kissed her for a long time.  “Thank you for being okay with this.”

She smiled and kissed him again.

Then he kissed the Doctor.  He walked up to the control room with them, and they left him as he headed for his hammock.

***


	7. Fascination

From the Waverider’s perspective, Amy and the Doctor had only spent three minutes speaking with Rory.  Gideon took a template of the Doctor’s physiology, including his brain structure, and began work immediately.  To ensure Rory’s comfort, more sedation was administered, so he was asleep in his hammock each time the Doctor checked in on him.  Asleep, but fine.

The procedure took over five hours.  Once it was done, Gideon closely monitored Rory for another two before moving him out of stasis.  After that, he slept.  Once the danger had passed, the Doctor left to work with Rip, to be sure there would be no fallout from the attack by the Silence. 

Amy had been reluctant to leave Rory’s side, but Sara offered to watch over him, encouraging Amy to get some sleep so she would be awake and alert when Rory wakened.  Len joined Sara in the quiet hours of the night.

“He doing okay?”

“Seems to be,” Sara said.  “He’ll have some things to adjust to, when he comes around.”

“I heard.  Genetic mutations?”

She nodded.  Looking up at the screen, she pointed.  “He has two hearts, now.  Like the Doctor.”

“Freaky.”

“I didn’t see him fight.”  She was curious what Len would say.

“It was a sight to behold.”  Len shook his head.  “You would never expect it, to talk to him.  ‘Wolf’ is a good name for him, though.  He fought like something wild.  But smart, too.  Organized.  He’d be a terrifying foe.”

“Good thing he’s a good guy, then,” Sara smiled.

“You like him.”  Was there a tinge of jealousy in that observation?  He cleared his throat to cover.

“Yeah,” she smiled.  “But not the way you think.  Seems like he’s got enough bedfellows.”

“Not your everyday arrangement.”

“They seem to love each other, very much.  It may not be traditional, but…”

“Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not judging.”

“Mick certainly was.”

“Mick would be disconcerted to hear my views on the topic.”

“Really?” Sara’s eyes sparkled.  “Never would have pegged you for the non-traditional.”

“See, I can’t tell.  Did you intend that pun, or no?” Len leaned towards Sara, grinning as she blushed.

“Oh, just kiss her already,” groaned Rory.

***

Len went to the bridge to let Rip and the Doctor know that Rory was awake.  He then offered to find Amy, as well, but the Doctor told him to let her sleep.  Sara was helping Rory to drink some water when the Doctor entered the med bay.

“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.

“Strange.”  Understatement of the millennium.  He was working hard not to panic.

“Shh,” the Doctor soothed, running his hand through Rory’s hair and kissing his forehead.  “You’ll get used to it.”

Rory looked down at his bare chest.  He was sure it should look different.  It felt different.  It felt…  “Fluttery,” he mumbled.  Breathing felt strange, too.  He drew in a deep breath and almost panicked again.

“You’re all right,” the Doctor reassured him.  “No deep breaths yet, though.  Just keep your breathing shallow, for now.”  He paused, looking at all of the readouts.  “Everything went perfectly, and your system has stabilized.”

“For how long?” Rory asked, still gasping a bit, hoping the Doctor would be letting him know how normal breathing was supposed to work, now.

Rip realized Rory’s concern.  “It’s not like early 21st century medicine, where rejection is a possibility,” he said.  “This is a time ship, so Gideon has the ability to determine that the procedure was/is/will be a success.”

Rory nodded as his eyes fluttered closed.  They left him to rest for a while longer.  The Doctor had determined that the portal would remain open and stable for another six hours, at least, and they hoped to make good use of the time. 

Sara remained with him.  Several hours later, he opened his eyes again.  “What is it?” he asked gently.

“You told me about the second time you died.  And then you died today.”  She bit her lip, hesitating.  “How many times?”

Rory closed his eyes.  How many?  He had never told Amy or the Doctor, but he had eventually remembered dying in the Leadworth dream.  And then there was the TARDIS dream.  Then under the earth.  Kovarian said Renatus had died in Dacia.  He’d be looking into that soon, he knew.  Big Bang Two.  Drowning.  And now today.

Sara thought he’d drifted off again, but then he said, “Six times, I think.  I only remember five, though.  But I only remember coming back twice.”  He felt his hands shake a bit, at the memory. 

Sara saw this and took one of his hands.  “I… I died, once.  I was supposed to have died three or four times – people thought I was dead.  But it was only actually the once.  I was months dead and buried, and my sister resurrected me.”

Rory squeezed her hand.  “I’m sorry.  I mean,” he looked startled.  “Not that you’re alive, but that you died.  That you had to experience coming back.”

“Did it hurt, for you?” she asked, but she needn’t have.  It was clear to her that he was still hurting.  “I’m sorry.  I should have realized.”

He shook his head.  “It’s fine,” he lied.  “It’ll be fine,” he adjusted.

“So maybe it’s normal, that it hurts to come back?”  She looked so hesitant that it made his chest constrict.

“Yes, it’s very normal,” Rory reassured her.  “I had a friend who was immortal.  He would die, but then he would resurrect.  He told me once how much it hurt, every time.”

“Did…  Did…” she wasn’t looking at him.  “Do you remember… seeing anything?”

Rory looked at her.  “Do you?”

“I remember a light, but I can’t remember anything about it.  It bothers me, that I can’t remember,” she said, swiping at a tear that had escaped.

Rory gave her hand another squeeze.  “I think if you remembered the light, it would haunt you.  Love and light and bliss and joy… to have to leave that, to come back… Isn’t forgetting a mercy?”

She looked at him, her eyes wide.  “Does your friend see it, every time?”

Rory shook his head sadly.  “He has never seen it.  He thinks there’s nothing but the howling.”

“The howling,” she shuddered, remembering.

“He never sees the light.  But I think it’s because he has to come back.  It would be cruel to show him what he cannot have, again and again.  It would send him mad, I think.”

She nodded.  “At least I remember there _was_ a light.”  She looked at Rory.  “Do you remember it?”  She realized she had mis-stepped, again.  It was too fresh, for him.  He had just been torn from it, a few hours ago.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe through the ache, the longing.  It would fade, he knew.  It had after the drowning, after all.  And it wasn’t like he didn’t want to live, to be with Amy and the Doctor.  And yet…

Trying to breathe through the ache only reminded him of his new physiology, which did not seem to accommodate the amount of air he suddenly seemed to require.  He clutched Sara’s hand as he tried to calm himself.

“What is it?” she asked, concerned.

“New… breathing…” he gasped. 

Suddenly, the Doctor was there.  “It’s all right, Rory.  Breathe with me.”  He took Rory’s other hand and placed it on his chest and began breathing.  There was some subtle difference in how the Doctor breathed.  It was a _breathe-pause-adjust-breathe again_ sort of cycle that seemed to be more efficient for his respiratory system.  Within the first two cycles, Rory calmed.  The Doctor stayed for almost twenty minutes, just breathing with Rory, helping him to learn how to breathe, now.

As he calmed, Rory asked Sara to tell him why everyone thought she had died several times.  As he continued to breathe with the Doctor, she told him about the _Queen’s Gambit_ , the first rescue, Lian Yu, the second rescue, the League of Assassins…  It was a quick story, when she didn’t dwell on the details. 

Then she told them about Thea’s arrows, and being gone, and then the resurrection of her body before John Constantine returned her soul.  “I can’t help but wonder, though.  What would have happened if I hadn’t gone with Oliver in the first place?”

“But you had to,” the Doctor said quietly. 

“Fixed point?” Rory asked, feeling like maybe he was getting the hang of the breathing.

The Doctor nodded.  He looked at Sara, who was frowning.  “There are moments in time that can be changed, and then there are fixed points, which cannot be altered.”

“And you can tell the difference?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded.  “You have several fixed points around which your life revolves.  That’s quite rare.”

“And going off with my sister’s boyfriend was one of them?” she asked, waiting for them to look disgusted.

Rory squeezed her hand and asked kindly, “How old were you?”

Sara cleared her throat.  “Twenty.”

“Well, then,” the Doctor smiled.  “People always do terrible things when they’re young and don’t know any better.  The true test,” he lowered his voice, “is whether, after living and learning, you’d do them again.”

Sara gave a small smile.  “No, I think I learned my lesson, on that one.”

“Excellent!”  He smiled down at Rory before looking back at her.  “You know, Amy was only twenty-one when she tried to kiss me, the night before their wedding.  That’s why I grabbed Rory up and brought him along!” 

Sara looked from one to the other, wide-eyed.

Rory chuckled, but then lost track of his breathing.  The Doctor helped him for a few cycles, his eyes full of mirth.  But then his smile faded.  “You really hated me, I think.”

Rory shook his head.  “It wasn’t you I hated.”  He saw the Doctor’s eyes widen in surprise.  “I mean, how was I meant to compete?  I’m the first to admit I am a bit… wet.  And you could give her all of time and space.  And you were all,” he wave his hand at the Doctor, indicating his general thingness.  “And it wasn’t terribly long before I realized I couldn’t compete with Amy, either.”  He smiled grimly.  “And as I recall, you didn’t think much of me, at the time.”

Before the Doctor could protest, Sara giggled.  She looked at the Doctor.  “He really has no idea, does he?”

The Doctor’s eyes danced as he shook his head.  Rory looked from him to Sara, confused.  “What?”

“You are the sun in your own solar system,” she said, her eyes wide.  “You are kind.  And loyal and funny and fearless and _fierce_.”  She waved a hand at the Doctor, who was grinning at her, now.  “Yes, he’s a genius and the way he moves is… enthralling, and Amy is all legs and hair and cross moods.  _Yum._ ”  She grinned as the two men laughed.  “All of you are interesting, but you, Rory Williams… You are _fascinating_.”

Sara sat back with a smile and a blush, and found it endearing that Rory was blushing even more than she was.

“Can’t say I disagree, if you’re wanting a second opinion, on that,” Len drawled from the door.  He gave Sara a wink and disappeared back down the hallway as Sara and the Doctor laughed.

“And for the record, I had dragged you into the TARDIS to fend off Amy.  It would have been downright _undignified_ to just snog your face off, after all that trouble.”  He leaned down.  “But that didn’t keep me from wanting to do just that.”  He gave Rory a swift kiss before straightening.

Rory felt utterly befuddled.  He nodded, but he wasn’t sure at what.  Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and decided to change the subject.  “Are you sure this is how this is supposed to feel?”  He tried for another deep breath and gasped as he failed.

“Stop trying to take such deep breaths, for now,” the Doctor advised.  “You’ll be able to do that, once you get accustomed to it.  I’ll help you,” he reassured, rubbing Rory’s arm.  “Are you all right to rest, now?”

Rory nodded, and the Doctor turned to leave.  But then he hesitated.  “Sara, remember what I said about fixed points.  It might help.  Eventually.”

“Help what?” Sara asked, a sinking feeling already giving her the answer. 

The Doctor shook his head sadly and left the room.

“It’s about Rip, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

Rory nodded.  “Deep down, he knows it, I think.  But he’s still got to try.  And who knows?  Maybe it’s not a fixed point, after all.”

“But you don’t believe that.”

“I believe things happen as they’re meant to.”

“What a terrible thought,” she muttered.

“But it’s the only one that helps me keep my sanity,” he replied.  “If I were meant to be dead, I’d be dead.  But I’m not, so I’m here, no matter how beautiful…”

“You remember the light.”

Rory focused on his breathing and nodded, not meeting her eyes.  “It takes a while to fade, but it will.”

Sara squeezed his hand, then drew out her phone.  “I don’t know if this will make you feel better or worse, but maybe a distraction…”

He looked at her, curious as she unlocked her phone and found the photo gallery.  In it were a dozen photos of Rory’s… Renatus’ family.  A picture of Rory kissing Aelia, of Rory holding Aurelia, laughing and crying, all at once.  A picture of Rory holding Claudia and Drusus and Aurelia. 

“I’m sorry you only got to see them for a few minutes,” Sara said softly.

It was in this moment that Rory felt the reality of having two hearts.  He gasped in surprise, and quickly lost the rhythm of breathing.  He was hyperventilating when the Doctor ran in, Amy right behind him.  They sat him up, and with the Doctor’s help it did not take long to calm his breathing.  “Sorry,” he apologized.

“No apologies, Rory.  It’s going to take some getting used to,” the Doctor was rubbing his back. 

Amy reached down and picked up Sara’s phone, which Rory had dropped.  She was about to hand it to Sara when the picture on the screen caught her eye.  “Oh, my God, it’s River!” she exclaimed.

Sara looked at the phone.  “That’s my mom,” she said.  “Her name is Dinah Lance.”

Amy pulled out her own phone and sat down beside Rory.  “This… is River Song.”

“Or Melody Pond,” the Doctor smiled. 

“Melody Williams,” Rory said wearily, a deep sorrow in his voice as he sat up and looked at both phones.  He looked up at Sara.  “Our daughter.”

Sara’s eyes grew large.  “What?”

“Time-wimey,” Amy shrugged.  “She’s a time traveler.  But for us, she was born about six months ago.  She was taken from us – by that… _woman_ , today.”  She reached out and patted Rory’s leg.  “Well done, by the way.  It was hugely satisfying to see her head snap back and her eye drive go flying off.”

Rory shook his head.  “I should have killed her,” he growled, and Sara almost believed him.  Almost.  He would fight to protect his loved ones, but he was no killer.  And to kill in anger…  No.  He was a guardian, a warrior.  But not a killer.

“You were incredibly wise not to,” the Doctor said, his voice grave.  “You would have been meddling with your own past, and that rarely turns out well.”

Rory swore under his breath.  Sara thought it sounded like Latin.  She caught Amy looking at her.  “So that would make you sort of our granddaughter, yeah?”

Sara blinked.  “It’s funny.  I never knew my mom’s parents.”

Rory looked as though he were going to correct Amy – Sara could practically see the words forming that Dinah Lance was no more Melody Williams than Rip Hunter was Rory.  But she saw him bite them back.  Swallow them down, along with his own sorrow.  He gave himself a bit of a shake as he put an arm around his wife and smiled at Sara.  “So what do you say to ‘honorary granddaughter’?” he smiled. 

“Isn’t it a little wrong to have a crush on your grandfather?” Len was back, leaning in the doorway and eating a cupcake.

“Not a crush,” Sara said, looking quickly at Amy, who was grinning at her.

“I’m just fascinating, that’s all,” Rory quipped. 

Amy looked at Sara.  “Oh, honey, we’ve all been there.”

“Some of us still are,” the Doctor grinned.

Sara saw Rory shake his head, unable to hide his smile.

“You’re _yum_ ,” Rory whispered to Amy.

“Am I?” Amy’s eyes widened.  “Thank you,” she grinned at Sara again.

“Which I can confirm,” Rory was now nuzzling Amy behind her ear, and she was beginning to giggle.

Sara took advantage of their distraction and transferred the pictures of Rory and his family to Amy’s phone.  She was scrolling through to be sure she hadn’t missed any when the Doctor grabbed her phone.  “Who is that man, to you?”

Sara made a face.  “His name is Malcolm Merlyn.  He brainwashed his daughter Thea to kill me.”

“Why on earth do you have his picture on your phone?” Amy asked, appalled.

“We think he’s been interfering with the timelines, and we were trying to track him down in a different period.  Having the picture helps.”  She looked at the Doctor.  “I hope he is a better man, in your universe.”

“He is,” the Doctor said quietly, eyeing Rory, who had taken the phone and was staring at the picture.  After a moment he handed Sara’s phone back to her without looking at the Doctor.

The next few hours passed uneventfully, and soon the Doctor announced it was time to depart.  He decided to make the TARDIS invisible, in case Kovarian decided to try to attack as they went back through the portal. 

Amy and Rory stood outside the TARDIS, Amy repeatedly informing the Doctor that it was still completely visible.  Rory shook hands with everyone, and Amy gave hugs all around.  Sara returned Amy’s hug, but she clung to Rory for a good long while, feeling the oddity of a pair of heartsbeat against her chest.  “I think I would have enjoyed having you for grandparents,” she said to them as she released Rory and watched them re-enter the now invisible TARDIS.

“Dulce carmen servo tuo, paulo Canary,” Rory said as he closed the door.[1]

When Sara was alone in her room, she asked Gideon to translate for her.  She smiled as she looked at the picture of the gentle Roman with his children on her phone.  She knew she would remember this man fondly, for all her days. 

No, not a crush.

A _fascination_.

 

[1] Keep your song sweet, little canary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this isn't an original idea. I have to give credit to ForFangirls, whose "Companions - Legends meet Doctor Who" (https://archiveofourown.org/works/11486481/chapters/25763187) is good fun as a crossover. 
> 
> For my version, I wanted to explore how Rory got those Roman memories, and throw the poor guy a bone and let his Roman family be real, after all.
> 
> Sara's not-a-crush was totally organic and took me by surprise, but I liked how it unfolded.


End file.
